PokeAcademia
by teen823
Summary: Titus (15) and his younger brother Otis (10) were orphaned as children leaving them in the care of their loving Aunt Flo. Flo moves the family to a new region, to try and start fresh, and ends up sending both boys to a world reknowned academy for trainers. Follow both Titus AND Otis on completely different adventures! OC Story (Mostly)
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone!

I disappeared for a while, I apologize! Life has not been kind lately nor has it had any instances where i could catch my breath. But! I'm now somewhat sorted, and with that I would like to announce a new project;

PokeAcademia!

As I continue to work on Cole's next adventure (Hint hint, he's on 'vacation' :D) I was challenged by a close friend of mine to write something I have never even CONSIDERED before; a story with TWO main Point of Views! So, after this chapter, the chapters will be split as evenly as possible between Otis and Titus! Funny thing about this story is that I did something I have not seen a lot of writers do before in (mostly) OC stories... I added myself and my best friend Avary! We dont premier till a few chapters in, as we are side characters, but I hope this helps you guys get to know me a little better! OCs, Mostly, and while I can't claim the spotlight on the story, I can certainly claim this interpretation. I hope you all enjoy, as I worked very hard to make this story one I could be proud of. Anyways, back to the point;

ENJOY!

Austin 3

The trees sway lightly in the morning breeze, and as the sun slowly rises over the horizon, Twinleaf town is slowly basked in morning light.

A small blue truck pulls up in front of one of the few houses in the village, and the driver gets out with a wide grin on her face, taking the 'For Sale' sign off of the front lawn as the moving truck pulls up behind her. She's middle aged, with shoulder length brunette hair that is currently tied up in a messy bun, and her glasses are askew but she doesn't bother to fix them.

The two young men that were in the back of the truck hop out as well, smiling and chattering away excitedly as they survey their new home. The younger one is thin and has shaggy blonde hair, reaching just below his eyes, and is tied up in a bun behind his head, while the older one is a bit more built, with dark auburn hair that is cropped close to his head.

"Here we are, boys!" The woman smiles, and the boys hug her.

"I think I'll like it here!" The younger one, Otis, declares, grabbing a few boxes from the truck and heading straight in.

Titus, the older brother, waits back with his aunt.

"He's going to be ten soon, Aunty. He'll get the stirrings." He sighs, and his Aunt nods as she hugs him.

"I know, T, I know..." She chuckles as there is a loud BANG from inside the house, and Otis quickly swears and apologizes in the same breath.

"Stubbed my toe!" He leans out the door with a lopsided grin, his hair now fallen around his face, and both Titus and their Aunt laugh.

"Sooooooo..." Otis starts, over their gourmet lunch of instant ramen and diet pop.

"Soooooo...?" His aunt puts her fork down, her usual half smile playing on her lips.

"I turn ten in like... four days. March 18th!" He counts them off on his fingers for emphasis, and his Aunt laughs.

"I turn fifteen in a month!" Titus puts in, and Otis shoots him a dirty look.

"I know, sweetie, I haven't forgotten. I'm not that old!" She says in mock disgust, and Otis quickly backtracks.

"Oh, no! I mean... well, I guess... I was hoping..."

"I have a special present for you." That shuts him up.

"Oh!" Is all he can say, his grin wide and toothy, making everyone laugh.

"I was going to wait until your birthday... buuuuut..." She trails off, pretending to get lost in thought, and Otis can't help but to choke on his food, his excitement getting the best of him.

"Oh PLEASE Aunty Flo! PLEASE?!" He squeals in excitement, and she smiles as she stands.

He flies up and stands beside her, but she gently pushes him back down.

"Wait here! Calm down, I'll be right back!" She chuckles, heading upstairs.

"I wonder what it is!" Otis drums his fingers energetically on the table, and Titus laughs.

"Who knows? Maybe its more pajamas?" He jokes, and Otis's eyes go wide in fear.

Before he can reply, Aunty Florence comes back down, holding a small box.

She sets it gently down before him, and he waits for her to be seated before thanking her.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" He gushes, and she just laughs.

"Don't thank me yet! Part is from me and part is from Titus." She laughs at the dirty look Otis shoots his older brother.

He gently unwraps the top, and throws the box open.

Inside are a large, brown envelope, and a great ball.

Otis gasps, remembering the talk they had a few months ago...

"Otis, you'll be turning ten soon..." She starts, and Otis sits obediently and nods.

Today was the day they discussed his starter pokemon.

"I've decided on what I want!" He says quickly, and she coughs in surprise.

"Oh! And whats that?"

"Something relatively simple... a Dragonite!" She chokes on her coffee.

"Um, how about no. Not right away, anyways."

"Oh okay... then a Gyrados!" She looks at him with wide eyes, slightly amused.

"DEFINITELY not..." She sighs, but he keeps going.

"Then... um... Aggron?" She laughs genuinely this time, and he sulks.

"Hey, don't be upset. Once you're a skilled trainer, you can catch whatever you want, but for now, stick to something simple."

"But I want something STRONG! Titus got a dragon!" He points to where Titus is playing with his Bagon, Gabriella.

"Titus happened across her egg, and saved her in the process. If you found an egg, I would allow you to keep it as well. And Otis, you have to remember... Just because a pokemon may not be strong now, doesnt mean you cant train it to be strong! You've seen Yanna, right?" She gestures to her starter, a Yanmega that flits swiftly around, tidying up the kitchen, and I nod.

"He was on my team when I faced Lance all those years ago, and I got him as a small little Yanma!" Yanna squeaks happily, coming over and landing gently on Flos' head.

Otis's eyes went wide as he realized what she was implying. Just because a pokemon can be considered 'weak' at first, that doesn't mean they cant be trained into a great battler.

His mental list just got a whole lot bigger.

He gently picks up the ball, and stares, mouth agape, as he turns it gently in his fingers.

"Well? Go ahead, open it!" Aunt Flo claps in excitement, and even Titus releases Gabriella to watch.

He turns from the table, gently pressing the button on the ball to activate it, and it opens.

A flash or red light, and his new starter stands in front of him.

Well... more like FLOATS in front of him.

"Mis?" The small ghost type floats forward slightly, touching Otis's outstretched hand gently with it's forehead, smiling slightly.

"Whoa..." Otis slowly gets up and out of his chair, sitting gently on the floor to be closer to this new addition to his team.

"That's a Misdreavus, Oti. She's still young, just hatched a few moths ago, and doesn't have a name yet." Flo explains, but Otis can't hear her, as he's so caught up with this fascinating pokemon.

"Hi." He says simply and gently, letting the pokemon float a little closer.

She floats right up till their noses just about touch, staring into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, she smiles, licking his nose and giggling as she floats quickly away.

"H-hey!" He laughs, wiping his nose off and standing. He sits back down at the table, and she appears beside him, staring at his food.

"Want some?" He asks, offering it to her, and she giggles and nods, taking it all in one bite.

Flo sighs contentedly, smiling at the two.

"I'm glad you two get along. She's a ghost type, so you have an element of danger, while I can still trust you to behave at school." His eyes flick towards her.

"School?" Titus laughs and Flos' face goes red.

"Well, the cat's out of the bag on that one." She says Mareepishly, handing me the envelope from the box. It has 'Otis' written in cursive on the top corner.

He opens it quickly, as she hands a package to Titus to.

Taking great care not to wreck the envelope, Otis is able to take the booklet out without wrecking anything.

It reads;

Dear Otis,

We would like to offer you our congratulations! You have been accepted into the Jubilife City Academy for Trainers! Courses start on March 18th, but the dormitories are open for inhabitants starting the 10th! We look forward to seeing you here, and can't wait to meet you!

NOTE: All students must come equipped with at least ONE pokemon

The booklet goes more in depth about classes and rules and stuff, but Otis can't read any farther.

"I... I didn't..." He stutters, at a loss for words, and Aunty Flo finishes for him.

"I applied for both of you, and you both got in! It's the school you'r father went to." She says that last bit quietly, but both Otis and Titus didn't push her on that.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Titus shakes his head, chuckling.

Misdreavus reads over my shoulder, and kisses my cheek happily.

"Mis! Misdre!" She giggles, flying around my head in circles.

"When..." Titus trails off, leaning down so Gabriella can read it.

"We leave tomorrow morning to get you set up in the dorms." Both boys turn to her with scared expressions.

"It's just in Jubilife! It's not like its far away! It's less than a day's walk, calm down!" She chuckles, but both boy's fly out of their seats, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you!"

"Can we come visit?"

"Your welcome, boys! And of course! Someones gotta come teach ME something!" She pretends to sigh in anger, but just laughs as both boy's quickly excuse themselves and dart upstairs to their rooms to pack.

Gabriella and Misdreavus stay back, looking between Flo and the leftover food, and she giggles as she stands.

"Well? Don't let it go to waste!" Both pokemon dig in.

Otis finished packing first, as he hadn't even started UNpacking from the move, so he laid down on his bed and started talking with his new starter, who curled up on his chest.

"Well then, baby girl... what are we going to call you?" He thinks aloud, and she murmurs something gently.

"It has to be a cool name... something... witch-y." Her eyes go wide as she nods vigorously.

"Hm... How abooooout... Azaria?" She thinks about it, but shakes her head.

"Shoot. Okay... Matilda?" Her eyes laugh as she smiles, but she shakes her head.

"Okay then... hm... what about... Rowena?" Her whole body moves as she nods, even harder than before.

"Rowena?" He confirms, and she laughs and nods.

"Rowena it is! And for short, can I call you Row?" She shakes her head, and he puts his hand to his chin.

"What about... Wen?" She nods, the biggest smile yet spread across her small mouth, and he laughs.

"Wen! Sounds good, Wen!" She kisses his forehead, and he sits up.

"Let's go tell Aunty Flo and Titus!" She nods, and they take off out of the room.

It's around dinner time, but the sun hasn't even begun to set, so the whole house is alive with sunlight, and Otis notices a few more of his Aunt's pokemon helping to tidy up and unpack.

Terra, her Breloom, comes sauntering over with a glass of water, which Otis gratefully takes. She smiles at Wen, bowing slightly before laughing and hugging us both.

"Hey Ter! How are you?" She chatters away, pointing to a new charm on her bracelet. Aunt Flo had a Silph Co. jewel charm bracelet a while back, and Terra HAD to have one, so we made her one out of string and thread, and every once in a while she would add new 'charms' to it, like acorns or mushrooms.

"I love the blue!" I comment on the hue of the crystal that she showed me, and she blushes and thanks me, before bounding off.

"Hey sweetheart!" Flo waves to me from the back deck, where she is just finishing putting up the patio set.

"Whats up?" He asks, and she gestures for him to sit.

He sits gently, and Wen takes up perch on his shoulder.

"Just finished out here, VanMerick and Greh (Her Machamp and Duosion) are just about done in there. Whats up with you? All packed?"

He nods, smiling.

"And, we came up with a name for her!" He points to Wen, and both her and Flo smile.

"Yay! What did you two decide on?"

"Rowena, Wen for short." Flo nods a few times, her playful half smile coming out once again.

"Quite the... thoughtful name! Good job, you two!" She approves, and both Otis and Wen sigh happily.

"Need any help around here?" He asks, but Flos shakes her head.

"You still got a few hours of daylight left, why not go explore a little?" She suggests, and both boy and his pokemon nod as they stand.

"Maybe we can go train!" He gasps, and Wen chatters happily from his shoulder.

"Okay, but be careful. I'm going to send Yanna with you, just in case." He nods, knowing better than to try and fight with her about this, and hugs her.

"Thank you SO much, Aunty Flo. You don't understand how much this actually means to me." He whispers to her, and she can't help but to smile.

"Anything for my two favourite boy's." She kisses his forehead, and gestures for Yanna.

He squeaks and darts over, chittering happily as Flo scratches behind his eyes.

"Follow them, make sure they don't get into to much trouble, okay?" Hen ods, his face set in both amusement and determination, and they head out.

As they leave, Flo is hit with a wave of nostalgia.

VanMerick, her Machamp, comes out and sits beside her on the deck, looking after them with a puzzled expression.

"Champ?" He asks, and she chuckles.

"I'm fine... it's just... He reminds me so much of Harry." VanMerick gently squeezes her hand in reassurance, and she kisses his hand, her half smile grown to a full grin.


	2. Chapter 2

OTIS

Otis, followed both by Wen and Yanna, enter Route 201 quickly, finding it is actually quite close to their new home, and he can even see his brothers window from here.

As they enter, Otis notices a lot of small pokemon around, and he can't help but smile to himself.

One particularly brave Starly blocks their path, puffing up it's chest feathers and hissing as they try to pass.

"Alright, here's our first challenger! Let's rock this, Wen!" She growls her assent, and flies into position.

Both pokemon stand off, and Otis quickly realizes that he has NO idea what moves his starter has.

"Um... I'll let you handle this one, Wen! Sorry!" He apologizes, but she waves him off with a lock of her dark, pink tipped hair as she giggles. She turns back to the Starly, who makes it's first move.

It throws up a cloud of sand, and Wen disappears within. As the sand dissipates, Wen is nowhere to be seen.

Otis looks around fearfully, scared to have lost his new pokemon ALREADY, but Yanna chuckles and points to the Starly... or more specifically... the Starly's shadow.

I look, and see the glint off of a familiar red gemstone necklace, and soon, Wen comes careening out of the shadow, slamming the Starly from underneath, and throwing it a few yards.

It growls, standing back up, and it looks even angrier, if thats even possible.

Otis whips out his notepad from his bag, grabbing a pen and scribbling notes;

Shadow Sneak.

Starly charges, going in for a Tackle...

And manages to phase right through the normal type.

IT turns around, squawking in anger, as Wen giggles, and sends a small pink wave at the bird pokemon.

It hits, sending the Starly back into a tree, and Wen quickly follows up with a seocnd one, but this one barely fazes the pissed off bird.

Otis scribbles more notes;

Psywave.

Starly flies in for a Tackle, but feints at the last moment with another Sand Attack. Wen growls, disappearing again, but Starly's prepared this time. It flaps, flying up so that it's far enough away from it's shadow...

When a pink wave knocks it from behind, throwing it out of the sky.

Wen giggles as she appears from one of the shadows from the tree beside us, and Starly angrily growls, but flies off, farther down the route.

"Good job, Wen! We won our first battle!" He couldn't help the tears slipping down his cheek, and Wen kisses his cheeks as they both cheer.

"Mis! Dreavus!" She cheers, and even Yanna pats us both on the back.

"Well, we ready to continue?" He asks, and both pokemon nod.

He points to a nearby Bidoof, and they take off.

TITUS

"Well, Gabby. I guess we're just about done." His starter nods, murmuring something as she hugs his leg.

Titus just finished his packing, and moved the rest of his stuff to a corner of his room so it's out of the way. He made sure to neatly make his bed, and he smiles as he opens the window to let some fresh air in.

His window overlooks the backyard, and in the distance, he notices Yanna, and Otis and his new starter pokemon, a Misdreavus that Titus himself had picked out just two days ago, training on Route... 201. Yeah, that was it. Route 201.

Titus knew barely anything about the Sinnoh region before moving there, which left him more than a little miffed about the current situation.

Anyone who knew Titus knew that he HATED not knowing what was going on, or about his surroundings. So when Aunty Flo got a position as Proffessor Rowans' assistant, and told them they would be moving to a region called Sinnoh, one Titus and Otis had only heard about on T.V or the odd book, they were, in the least, quite surprised.

As he was cleaning and reorganizing his bags for the hundreth time, there was a light knock on his door.

"Come in!" He turns, to see Greh, holding a large bag.

"Hey, Titus!"

"Hey man! Is that for me?" He asks, and Greh smiles.

"Of course. It's a gift from both me and Florence." He hands it to Titus gently, and he carefully opens it.

Inside are school supplies, including binders, paper, pens and pencils, pencil cases, empty pokeballs, and more.

He smiles, as he notices a small notebook in the bottom of the bag.

He takes it out, and notices a beautiful drawing of Gabby on the front, but its the background that he stares at.

Behind Gabby in the picture, Titus recognizes the tree she is leaning against. It's a large weeping willow, but it's leaves are pink and gold instead of the usual green, and the trunk has small traces of orange running up, right into the highest branches. Titus fights back a sob.

It's the tree where his parents are buried, back in Almia.

He wipes a tear from his eye, and both Greh and Gabby hug him tightly.

"I drew it myself, I thought it would be nice for you to have them with you wherever you go." Greh says quietly in his head, but Titus just nods.

"T-thank you, Greh. This... it means the world. Thank you." Is all he can say, his voice breaking on the last word. He hugs the Psychic type, who bows and floats back out of the room.

Sighing, and wiping his tears, Titus places the book back in the bag, and grabs his empty school bag from his last year in public school, a large blue messenger bag with his handprint and Gabby's front paw print on the front, and starts organizing his supplies, the smell of barbecue wafting up through his open window.

OTIS

The sun is just starting to set as Otis finally calls it a day, and both pokemon are more than happy to head back.

"Mis..." Wen groans, floating lazily until Otis picks her up.

"You did amazing out there, Wen. I'm SO proud of you." She smiles up at him, kissing his cheek, before promptly falling asleep in his arms.

Yanna lands, gesturing for him to get on, and he does. They take off quickly, making it to the house in no time.

"Hey you three!" Flo calls from the back deck, the smell of barbecue floating up to them as they land.

She notices the sleeping ghost in Otis' arms, and her smile turns to an expression of fear as she goes to run over to them, but he gestures for her to keep quiet, and she sighs.

"Sorry! Had me worried for a minute." She smiles, ruffling the boys shaggy hair as he gently sets the sleeping pokemon on a patio couch.

"How did she do?" She asks, asking both Yanna and Otis, and the latter smiles widely.

"I learned about some of her moves, and we battled a total of six wild pokemon! And we won every battle!" Yanna nods excitedly, and Flo can't help the wide grin that spread across her face, nor the tear that slips down her cheek.

"Oh... wow..." She smiles, but her voice breaks, and Otis sits her down as he keeps an eye on the grill. He had always been the one to do the cooking, even as a child, as he had a keen eye for taste and which ingredients would work best with each dish. He almost hisses at the steak spice she had put on, sending VanMerick to grab a small list of ingredients from the kitchen, and Flo laughs.

"You okay?" He asks, turning the meat over to grill the other side.

"Just... proud." She sniffles, wiping her nose on a napkin from the table, and he smiles.

"Me too! She did so great!" He smiles at his starter, who is slowly waking back up.

Flo gently takes her and puts her in her lap, smoothly running her hands through the ghosts dark hair, causing the pokemon to moan with content, and promptly fall back asleep.

"How did you do that?" He asks, already chopping onions and chives, and she smiles.

"As a trainer, its not only your duty to watch out for and to train your pokemon, but also to bond and get to know them. Pokemon arent tools, they are friends and in some cases, can even be considered family. For instance-" She gestures for Yanna to come over, and she gently lifts the ghost and places her back on the couch.

"Watch." She pats her lap, and the bug type lands quickly and effortlessly. She smooths his wings back, and starts scratching at the base of them, causing Yanna to shiver with delight, and in less than a minute, he snores happily on her lap.

"Whoa!" Otis puts the lid down, and bends down.

"I found out Yan likes his wing-joints scratched after having him for almost three years. And trust me when I say, he falls asleep every time." He wakes up then, shaking his head and laughs, taking off again.

"Thats... so cool!"

"Alrighty then chef, how about I take over while you go pack your schoolbags?" His eyes go wide, but he seems hesitant to let her back on the grill.

"Are you sure..."

"Oh, come on! I'm not THAT bad of a cook!" She laughs, playfully smacking the side of his head, and he giggles, running back inside.

He comes back a few seconds later, a lopsided grin on his face as he quietly grabs Wen, and heads back inside.

"That kid..." Flo chuckles, opening the BBQ lid, and gasping.

The steaks were perfect, with a blend of smoked veggies and she even saw some apple slices on top. The smell is so good she has to catch herself.

"That KID..." She laughs outright.

TITUS

"And... there we go!" Titus puts the last binder in his bag, and sets it with the rest of his stuff, and Gabby finishes packing her books as well.

Most people thought it was weird for a pokemon to read human books, but Gabby found them quite interesting, even as a newly-hatched.

So Titus taught her to read, and soon, they both fell in love with literature. Everything from science fiction to biographies to pokemon encyclopedias, they had them all. Gabby's favourite book is one Titus used to read to her before bed, when they were younger; "Three Little Spoink." And even though he couldn't fully understand her, he let her read it every time. He never felt better than when she had that cute little smile as she read through it, and it made him the happiest he had ever been.

It reminded him of his mother.

"T!" Otis knocks on the door, and he quickly opens it.

"Whats up, bro?"

"We finished training, and I have a few questions." This was not an uncommon occurrence, Otis coming to Titus for advice on pokemon.

"Of course! Come, sit!" They both sat on the bed, and Titus smiled as he noticed Wen was still asleep, snoring gently against Otis's shirt.

Otis hands a small notebook to Titus, who opens it gently, and reads what is written. There isn't much, but he can guess the question from the notes;

MOVES

-Shadow Sneak

-Growl

-Psywave

-Hypnosis?

ABILITY

-Levitate?

"Good job on the notes, I'm glad you picked that up from me." He starts, and Otis flashes him a small smile, all the while keeping an eye on his exhausted starter.

"Okay, lets start with..." He runs his hand over his bookshelf, looking for a specific volume... Ah! There it is! 'WitchCraft and the Involved Pokemon!'

He flips it open, having memorized every page after having read it a million times, and quickly flips to the page with a Misdreavus in the corner.

"So... yeah... mhmm... okay! I have some good news!" He turns the book, showing his little brother, who quickly drinks in the knowledge on the page.

"Shadow Sneak is an Egg move? What does that mean?" Otis asks, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"It means its not a move that can be taught through levelling Misdreavus up, one of her parents knew it, so it was passed down to her, probably from as far back as four to six generations. As for Hypnosis... I'd have to see that one, cause it doesn't mention it in here... But! This book is a few years old." Otis nods.

"Her name is Rowena, but we can call her Wen." Otis informs him, and Titus laughs.

"Such a thoughtful name, little brother. Good job. Also, You were right about Levitate, it seems that is her only available ability." He shuts the book, handing it to his brother, who stares at it, with huge eyes.

Otis knew not to touch Titus' books anymore, after having accidentally dropping a few in the bathtub a few years back.

"No, please! Consider it a birthday gift." Otis took it, his usual lopsided grin on his lips.

"Thanks bro!" He hugs his brother quickly, and takes off, leaving Titus to laugh.

As he leaves the room, Titus can't help but feel his chest compress, the pride of seeing his brother with a pokemon filling him up inside.

He pats Gabbys' head, and they head downstairs.

"Boys! Dinner!" Aunt Flo calls from the patio as Titus enters the kitchen. He grabs paper plates and napkins, and holds the door for Terra and Gabby, befoer heading out himself.

He sets the table, and Otis soon comes down, taking over from Aunt Flo, and she sits down as well.

All of them and their pokemon sit around the table, and Aunt Flo smiles at each of them.

"What?" Otis asks, his face already stuffed full of food, and she laughs.

"Just... this might be the last meal we share for a little while..." She laughs, but she can't hide the tear that slips down her cheek.

"Oh, Aunty Flo! We won't be gone long! Plus, we can come visit on weekends! I'll catch a flying type, then I can even come for lunch!" Otis exclaims, and they all laugh, but she nods, wiping her eyes with a napkin.

"I'd like that, very much."

The meal is over way sooner than Flo would have liked, but the boy's take positions at the sink and help clean off any utensils and grill stuff that needs to be cleaned, and she watches from the door.

She chuckles, shaking her head, and Terra approaches, a wide grin on her face as she holds up her bracelet.

"Oh! What did you find this time?" She inspects it, and is surprised to find its a dark purple crystal... Where had she seen that before...

"It's beautiful, baby girl!" She hugs her ecstatic fighting type, who bounds off to wipe the table down.

Everyone says their good-nights, and head to bed early, as they can't wait to go to school.

Otis snores almost immediately, but Titus can't help but fret over his bags, unpacking and repacking them all five times to MAKE SURE he hasn't forgotten anything.

Gabby gently murmurs as she pulls him to bed, and he laughs, picking her up.

"Whoa! You're getting heavy!" He pretends to buckle, and she gasps, playfully smacking his head, and he kisses her forehead as she jumps from his arms to the bed.

Her head hits the bed with a solid thunk, and Titus smiles.

Her helmet had been getting tougher, but now it was like rock. She was close to evolving, even if she didn't know it.

She grabs a book off the shelf, and he doesn't even half to look to know which one she picked.

She starts with the title, and he leans back as her face brightens into the worlds happiest smile.


	3. Chapter 3

TITUS

He could tell Otis was up before him for one reason, and one reason only;

The smell.

He could smell some kind of breakfast meat, and he could've sword he smelt fresh bread.

Careful not to wake his starter, but stopping to kiss her forehead, he throws a shirt on and heads downstairs.

"Hey T!" Otis gestures for him to head on outside, where Aunt Flo is sitting, enjoying her morning coffee as the sun rises over the trees.

He heads out, hugging his Aunt and sitting down.

"Ham and celery?" Otis calls from the kitchen.

He knew Titus' favourite off by heart, but always double checked.

"Of course!" He calls back, to a grunt of understanding while Otis tasted something.

"I don't know why this kid doesn't become a famous pokemon chef!" Flo chuckles, shaking her head gently, and Titus nods.

"Me either, Aunty. Me either." He smiles as Terra gently places a mug of hot cocoa on the table in front of him.

"Thanks sweetheart." Flo gently pets Ters' hat, and Ter giggles and kisses her hand before running off again.

Otis comes out, plates lined on his arm like a professional waiter, and he slides them with ease onto the table.

"Aunty... T... Ter..." He names them off as he places them, and everyone thanks him generously.

Titus smiles down at his plate; a larger omelette for himself, and a smaller one for Gabby, who just so happens to walk out at that precise moment.

He sets her on his lap, and watches with an amused expression as she goes straight for his, but he doesn't stop her.

Flo chuckles, shaking her head.

"You two are so good with pokemon, I never could understand how you all got along so well. Dragons are supposed to be one of the hardest types to train." She laughs, and Gabby smiles.

"It helps when my partner is so strong!" He picks up a small piece of egg on his fork, but Gabby snatches it before it reaches his mouth, and they all laugh.

Otis drops a plate of buttered toast on the table as well, and Greh and Ter thank him. They don't eat meat or meat byproducts, but Otis has only ever taken that as a challenge. He never forgets to make something to appeal to them.

He surveys the table once more, then sits, a satisfied smile on his lips.

"Aren't you eating? Also, is that FRESH bread?" Flo asks, and Otis chuckles.

"I eat as I cook, and yeah! I couldn't sleep, so I thought; why not stock you up before I leave! Arceus knows you can't make bread..." He trails off, and Flo scoffs, gently smacking him across the back of the head, causing us all to laugh.

"How much did you make?" She asks, and he smirks.

"Fourteen loaves." She chokes on her bacon.

"Don't worry, I'll replace the flour!" He laughs, but she just shakes her head.

"You two are to good to me..." She chuckles.

"Hello there!"

They all turn to see someone approaching from the yard.

"Mis..." Wen appears out of Otis' shadow, freaking everyone out a little and growling, but he gently shushes her, playing with her hair, and she calms instantly.

The newcomer has short, orange and black hair, and shes wearing cargo shorts, with a dark green cloak over her shoulders. There is also a pokemon behind her, and Titus instantly recognizes it from his books as a Roserade.

"Sorry to interrupt! My name is Gardenia, and I'm the gym leader for Eterna City!" She bows, and both Titus and Otis quickly get up and bow as well.

"Nice to meet you!" They say in unison, and Gardenia laughs.

"I'm here to pick you two up and take you to the Trainer's school! Sorry, I forgot how early it was!" She says mareepishly, but Otis gestures for her to come up.

"Are you two hungry? I made breakfast!" Before she can answer though, Roserades' stomach grumbles loudly at the smell wafting from the deck, and they all laugh.

Titus moves aside, grabbing Gabby so Gardenia can sit. She thanks them profusely and apologizes again for interrupting, but Otis won't have none of it.

"What do you like in your eggs?" He asks, and she smiles.

"Onions, and lots of them!" He nods, taking off into the kitchen.

Wen giggles, sinking into the shadow cast by the patio umbrella in the morning light.

"Ghost pokemon are awesome, but they give me the creeps." Gardenia announces and they all laugh.

"I was under the impression Roark was coming by? Not trying to say we didn't want you!" Titus laughs, and Gardenia nods.

"He got pulled into teaching a seminar about Rock types to the under grads this morning, so I volunteered to come down. I had to come see Rowan anyways." She explains, and they all nod.

"So, anyways! This is Titus, and the younger one is Otis." Flo introduces the boy's for them, and Titus blushes.

Gardenia shakes his hand, and gestures to Gabby, who is grinning toothily.

"And who is this little sweetheart?" She asks, scratching her head, and making her purr.

"This is my starter, Gabriella, but we just call her Gabby. And the Misdreavus from before is Rowena, or Wen for short, and she's Otis' starter." Titus explains, and Gardenia nods thoughtfully.

She then notices Terra, who is watering the plants in the back garden, and waves.

"Oh, a Grass type!" Terra comes bounding over to meet the new arrival, and bows respectfully.

"Bre! Breloom!" She smiles, and Gardenia laughs.

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure they'll love it!" She laughs, and both Titus and Flo look at her with confused expressions.

"Oh!" She taps a small device in her ear, and Titus recognizes it from a book he once read; a translator. They were quite expensive, and only in prototypes for the time being, but the concept was amazing; Anyone wearing one has the ability to understand pokemon.

"What did she say?" Flo asks, intrigued, and Gardenia looks to Terra for permission. Ter nods, and Gardenia smiles.

"She said she planted a 'pretty tree' in the backyard." Titus and Flo locked eyes, scanning the backyard, and sure enough, near the back of the property was a small sapling.

Titus was off before Flo could even stand.

OTIS

"Alright... and there!" He put the last pinch of pepper, folding the omelette in half and adding some breakfast meat, plus some toast for the grass type, and heading back out to the deck.

He quickly saw that everyone was gathered around something at the back of the yard, so he brings the plate with him while he goes to check.

"Hey guys'! Whats up?" But the look in Titus' eyes say it all. The last time he had that look was when...

When they visited the tree.

He almost dropped the plate as he pushed through, and found Ter, watering a beautiful young sapling, with gold and pink leaves, and orange streaks running up the sides.

He hands the plate to Gardenia, kneeling softly beside his brother and grabbing his hand.

"Now we can visit them." He said quietly, but Titus just nods.

"Should I..." Gardenia looks between the boys, and Flo gently leads her and her pokemon away, and back to the deck, explaining what it meant.

"I'm sorry." Gardenia says, but Flo just shakes her head.

"Don't be, now they can visit their parents whenever they want."

Back at the sapling, Titus finally stands, wiping his eyes and stalking off without another word.

Ter sits beside Otis, gently patting his back.

"Bre?" She looks extremely guilty, but Otis smiles through his tears.

"No no, baby girl. Thank you. This means... so much." He hugs her, and she sighs with relief.

She kisses his forehead, ruffles his hair, and takes off with her Wailmer-Can.

He chuckles, wiping his tears and standing.

"I'm going to do it, mom and dad. I'm going to make you proud."

He walked back to the deck, to find Gardenia scarfing the food he made.

"THIS... IS... HEAVEN... PLEASE tell me you'll come work in the kitchens at the school? I'll pay you!" She groans, having finished her eggs and moved to the meat, while Roserade munches happily on the toast.

"Why thank you! And I would love to!" He chuckles, grabbing the now empty dishes and taking them all inside.

"That kid... how old is he? I know grown chefs that couldn't hold a LITWICK to that kids cooking!"

"He turns ten in a few days." Flo chuckles, and Gardenia's eyes go wide.

"TEN? Like, one zero? Holy!" She laughs, shaking her head in amazement.

"Here!" He comes back out, handing her a shopping bag of stuff.

"Whats this? For me?" Gardenia gives Otis a confused look, but opens the bag.

Three loaves of bread and a large container of what smells like eggs.

"Otis, I cant-"

"You can and you will. You came all this way to get us, it's the least I can do. The bread is fresh from this morning!" He takes off again before she can reply, and she just sits there, stunned.

"Yeah, they're too nice for their own good." Flo chuckles.

Otis, back inside, starts cleaning up the kitchen.

"Showering!" Titus calls down.

"One sec!" Otis fills the sinks with water, then calls back up; "Okay! Your good!"

The shower upstairs starts, and Wen pops out of his shadow.

She lifts one of the plates with her hair, gently scrubbing it and rinsing it.

Together, they get the kitchen and dishes clean in no time, and the shower soon stops.

Otis runs upstairs, careful not to slip on the wet hardwood, and leans out his window.

"Just showering, be right down!" Gardenia waves to signal she heard, and he heads to the bathroom.

"Ready to go?" Flo asks, and both boys nod, their faces set in hard grins, both with three bags apiece.

She sighs, hugging them both, but it's obvious that all three are holding back their tears.

"No crying, don't show weakness at your new school!" She chokes out, and they all laugh.

"Love you, Aunty Flo. We'll come back soon to visit! I can show you all the cool pokemon I caught!"

"I'm going to miss you boys... but! Do good in school, don't make me have to come beat you!" She half-jokes, and both boys sniffle but laugh.

They wave as they head out, Gardenia leading them to their new home-away-from-home.


	4. Chapter 4

OTIS

"Shadow Sneak!"

Wen cackles evilly, sinking into her own shadow, before reappearing behind the terrified Kricketot, slamming it into a nearby tree, and knocking it unconscious instantly.

Gardenia asked how the boys like to train, so they thought they would demonstrate for her.

"Good hit, solid attack, and almost no recoil! Not to shabby!" Gardenia pats Otis on the back, and he smiles his lopsided grin.

"Okay... here we go! There's a Shinx! Titus, your turn!"

He nods, sending Gabby out.

"Gabby, start out with Dragon Breath!" Gabby jumps into action instantly, wasting no time in sending out a wave of draconic energy towards the small electric type.

It tries to dodge, but the attack manages to hit its hind legs, sending it careening off into a bush. A few moments later, it comes back out looking more worse for wear, but growls all the same.

It darts forwards, sinking its fangs into Gabby's leg, and she howls in pain.

"Gabby, hit it with Crunch!"

The Shinxs' eyes go wide as it realizes it left itself open for a devastating attack, which Gabby swiftly delivers.

She gently shakes the unconscious kitten off her leg, being careful not to damage it any further.

"Not bad at all! Way to think quick, thats a trait that you'll need to become a master trainer!"

He nods, picking Gabby up and using a potion on her leg.

"Oh, T! Watch!" Otis points to a Bidoof who was trying to hide between a rock ahead of them, and Wen targets it.

It squeals in fear as it tries to run.

"Wen, use Hypnosis!" She nods once, sending a wave of dark pink energy at the Bidoof, causing it to stop running, and promptly fall over, snoring loudly.

"Interesting..." Titus pulls out his training note book, marking something down.

Gardenia looks between them as they walk, laughing.

"You guys make the best partners! You're quite comfortable with each other, which is strange, considering most siblings tend to drift apart once they start training..."

"Titus has the knowledge, I have the cooking skills!" Otis exclaims, and they all laugh.

They reach Jubilife just before lunch, and Gardenia leads them down the busy main street.

"Jubilife is hands down one of the biggest cities in the world, and this isn't even a busy day!" Both boy's gape, having only ever lived in the small village of Haruba, back in Almia.

Neither of them had really ever been to a big city before, only to the outskirts.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the academy, and all they could do is stare.

The building itself is a light tan, with red window linings and a dark red door, and it's at LEAST five stories high. The sounds of laughter, battling, and even music could be heard from within, and Otis even noticed a flock of flying types resting on the roof.

"Whoa..." Titus whispered, holding Gabby close in this unknown place.

"Well, lets head on in and get you situated! We were hoping to have you room together, but unfortunately it didn't work out. You guys will be in the same wing, though! Otis, you already have a roommate, but Titus, yours doesn't arrive till tomorrow." She continued as they entered the building, listing off rules;

No girls allowed in their room after ten,

Garbages are to be left in the hallways on thursdays for pickup,

Laundry can be done any day, but there are only limited machines,

And so on and so forth, basic rules and common courtesy.

They arrive at the fourth door on the left, on the third floor of the east wing.

"Titus, this is you! Get yourself all settled, I'll be back in an hour." She pats his back, and her and Otis keep going.

TITUS

Titus enters the room, and is quite surprised to see that it is very roomy, lots of space to move around.

There is one main den area, with two doors on either side.

He peeks in to them and finds two bedrooms, one bathroom, and what seems to be a storage room.

He enters the bedroom on the left, and sighs.

It has a large window on one of the walls, which can be opened, to his surprise. There's a small bookshelf to one side, with a table beside it, and the bed beside that. On the other side of the bed, there is a large armoire, complete with an ornate mirror and what looks to be some pop and cookies with a note.

"Well Gabby, welcome home." She claps happily, grabbing her book bag from one of Titus' and starts organizing them by title on the small bookshelf provided.

Chuckling, he hands her his books as well, and starts putting his clothes in the dresser beside the bed, and grabs the note.

Titus,

We hope you like the room! Please notify the head office if you require anything!

Principal Cheryl

He smiles, putting the note back as he organizes the rest of his stuff.

OTIS

"And here we are! Play nice and get situated, I'll be back within the hour." She ruffles the young boy's hair, walking down the hall.

Otis looks between the key in his hand and his trust pokemon, and sighs.

"This is our stop, Wen." She nods, face set in something akin to determination, and Otis opens the door.

"Hello?" A voice from within beckons him, and he looks fearfully at Wen before replying.

"Hi? I'm Otis, your new roommate?" He walks in and sees his roommate on a sofa.

The young man on the couch looked up from his book, an award winning smile on his lips.

"Ah! Nice to meet ya!" He stands, shaking Otis' hand.

He has curly hair that bunches around his head, so Otis couldn't tell if he had longer hair or not, and its a dark red. He's a bit bigger, and has a handful of piercings including his eyebrow, nose, his ears have stretcher tunnels, and Otis could have sworn he had seen a tongue piercing. His glasses are broken, and look to be glued together, and his eyes are hazel/brown, but inviting.

"Name's Austin!" The boy smiles, and Otis just nods.

"Otis. Nice to meet you!" Austin sits back down, grabbing a ball from his belt.

"This is my starter, Lorell!" He releases a pokemon Otis knows immediately.

The Pidgeotto bows softly, and flies up to perch on it's trainers head, quickly falling asleep in Austins' nest-like hair.

"Sorry, he was up late last night." He excuses his pokemon mareepishly, but I laugh and wave him off.

"Thats okay! Wen is mine!" Otis gestured to his side, to find that Wen was no longer there.

"Wen?" He turned around, and Austin giggled behind him.

"What?" He asks, and Austin points down, so Otis looks. Two eyes stare up at him through his shadow.

"Wen! Get up here!" She giggles, floating up to greet the new friend.

"Misdreavus! Awesome! My aunt had a Mismagius!" Austin smiles, passing Wen a piece of fruit, which she gratefully catches, bowing.

"Which room is mine?" Otis asks, and his roommate points to a door on the left.

"That one! I opened the window to air it out a little, it hasn't been used in... well, a while." He goes back to his book, but Otis gets a feeling there's something he left out.

"Thanks!" He shrugs it off, and the two head into their new room.

Otis starts by unpacking his clothes, folding the bottoms and hanging the tops.

He just finishes putting his books away, making sure to leave out his training book and pencils, when theirs a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Otis calls, and the door opens.

Gardenia walks in, chatting with Austin.

"... flying type in Alola, I thought I would try to get one for the school. Would you be interested in helping us train it?" She finishes, and Austin says something Otis can't quite make out from the bedroom, making her laugh.

"Of course. Hey, Otis my man! How's it going?" She asks, and Otis smiles, gesturing to the room.

"This is huge! I could have a party in here!" He laughs, and she smiles, leaning against the door.

"As long as you're quiet by midnight, so anything before then is fair game." Austin says something from the living room and she almost chokes, she starts laughing.

"You better stop or I'll send you to Volkners class, I swear to Arceus!" She calls back, and his answer makes me gape, but Gardenia just laughs.

She leads Otis (and Wen, who had apparently fallen asleep on the bed, so Otis had to grab her) out of the room, and back towards Titus'.

TITUS

Titus was on his bed, his face buried in an old favourite, The History Of Dragon Pokemon, when the knock came upon his door.

Gabbys' head lifts with a tired yawn, but Titus calms her and lays her down again before answering the door.

He opens it quickly, but its not who he was expecting. At ALL.

She looks to be a little older than Titus, her silver hair tied up in a messy bun, but he notices she has different coloured streaks throughout. She has multiple facial piercings, the most notable being a beautiful gemstone placed right in the middle of her upper lip, and a gold nose ring. She's not very tall, but her figure more than makes up for the height difference. Her most notable feature is her eyes, which, in the light, reflect a beautiful clouded gray, and Titus feels them stare right through him.

"Oh! Hi! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt!" She turns to leave, but Titus stops her.

"No! Don't go! I mean... Uh... Hi to you to." He can tell his face is blushed, but he smiles through the embarrassment, hoping to lock eyes with this mysterious girl again.

"Oh, okay! Hi! Name's Avary!" She doesn't seem to notice, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

He steps aside for her to come in, and she smiles, stepping in.

She leads him to the den area, both of them sitting across the coffee table from one another.

"I don't mean to intrude, but I couldn't help but notice that you brought some literature with you..." She trails off, and his heart skips a beat. Something he can talk about!

"Oh, yeah! I'm a huge fan of history and cultural reading!" Her smile grows, and he can't help but grin.

"Oh yay! Thats awesome! I actually had a request for you!" She takes a backpack off, setting it on the table.

He slides the bag over eagerly, and takes out three books;

A Brief History of Alolan Form Pokemon

Historia #21: Poison & Ghosts

Documentation from Team Rocket Vol. 4

He gasps, having not read any of them before.

"I was hoping we could trade books every once in a while, maybe go to the library together..." She trails off, but he smiles, grabbing her hand and leading her to his bedroom.

"Oh!" She gasps but he smiles, pointing to his bookshelf, and she smiles, walking over.

"You brought so many!" She gasps, gently running her fingers over the spines, selecting three.

"I'll have them back by Tuesday, okay?" She asks, and he just nods, his face still set in a stupid grin.

"Thanks, I'll see you around?" She smiles, facing him.

"Of course! See you then. Around. When I see you... Nevermind." He stutters, his face blushing as he turns.

He almost dies when she giggles and leaves.

"Oh, hey Avary!"

"Hey Gardenia!"

He sighs, gently picking up Gabby, so as to not disturb her slumber, and heads into the living room, where Otis and Gardenia are waiting.

"Oh! Both of your pokemon are asleep? They must have been excited!" Gardenia smiles, gesturing for them to head into the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

OTIS

"This is the cafeteria, all food is free for students, so come down whenever you're feeling peckish!" Gardenia throws open the doors and leads the boys to the start of the line.

"Hey Miss Gardenia!"

"Gardenia, loving the boots!"

"You look lovely today, Gardenia!"

Multiple voices chorus from around us, but Gardenia just smiles.

"Everyone is super friendly, especially when its toward the teachers." She pretends to shoot an evil eye out, and everyone just chuckles.

They grab trays, and head down the line, grabbing sandwiches, fruit salad, even chocolate milk, before sitting at a vacant table.

"Any questions so far, guys?" She asks as they eat, and Otis shakes his head, but Titus raises his hand.

"Whats up?" She asks, and he smiles.

"Does the academy offer classes on trainer sub types, or trainer specific classes?" He asks, and Gardenia grins as she nods.

"You're a smart one, Titus. Yes, the academy offers courses and classes for the six most popular sub types of trainers. Contestier, PokeNurse, Breeder, Gym Leader, Police Force, and Professor. Why do you ask?" She asks, and Titus grins.

"I'm hoping to train as a Professor, eventually." He explains, and Gardenia laughs.

"That's a noble, and very challenging, dream! Good for you, Titus! And what about you, Otis?" She asks, but he just shrugs.

"I think I'll do the most popular option." He says simply, and both his brother and his mentor look at him quizzically.

"Catch some pokemon, then go and discover new caves and forests, hopefully finding some tough pokemon along the way. And maybe try to defeat the gym system. Haven't decided." They both nod, Gardenia back to her usual smile.

"That's also a noble cause. Just keep your heads on straight and you'll do great."

They put their trays on a dirty pile, and head back upstairs to the dormitory wing.

"So, what now?" Otis asks, and Gardenia turns so shes walking backwards.

"You guys have free rein for now, go explore! Training grounds are on the first floor, and there's a student friendly forest behind the building if you'd like to try that as well for training." Titus raises his hand, and she chuckles.

"You only have to raise your hand in class Titus. Whats up?"

"Sorry. Where can I find the library?" She chuckles again, shaking her head.

"Starts on second and goes to fourth, third hallway to your right." She points, and he nods, turning and waving.

"Any plans for today?" Otis asks, trying to make conversation on the rest of the walk back, and she nods.

"I'm teaching a seminar for the under grads. Something Grass related, I assure you." He chuckles, and she ruffles his hair.

"You'll like it here, kid. I promise." She smiles, waving as she heads out, and he opens his door, heading in.

Austin is just putting his shoes on, Lorell sitting quietly on his shoulder, and they chat away as Otis walks in.

"Oh, hey! Sorry!" Otis apologizes, getting past and back to the other side of the hallway in the room.

"No problem! I'm just heading out for some late training, so I'll catch you after!" He turns, but Otis stops him.

"Wait! Can I come with you?" He asks, and Austin smiles.

"Of course! Come on!"

TITUS

Gabby runs quietly from one end of the aisle to the next, every book she sees ten times better than the last one, and she just sighs in content.

Titus smiles from the chair near the middle of the aisle, his face buried halfway through a book on pokemon abilities, as she finally grabs one, and comes, crawling into his lap. His smile grows as she settles in, she is heavier than she was this morning, meaning her evolution is not to far off.

"What did you find, baby girl?" He peeks over her head, and she proudly shows it to him; Mega Evolution and the Known Benefactors. He nods, kissing her head.

"Tell me how it is?" He asks, and she growls happily, turning the first few pages.

He gently sets his book atop her head, continuing to flip through the many pages, when he notices the figure coming down the aisle towards them.

Avary smiles, her hair now cascading freely around her shoulders, framing her face beautifully. He also notices a Cubchoo, sniffling quietly and hiding behind her legs.

"Fancy meeting you here!" She smiles, waving, and he grins.

"Avary! What brings you here?" He asks, and she laughs.

"This is my calm place, it's always so... quiet." She says, and he nods.

She lifts a book from her hip, where she had been holding it, and puts it back on a shelf beside her.

"Is that your starter?" Titus asks, and she bends gently to grab the little ice type.

"Yep! This is Henry, and he's shy." She whispers something to the cub pokemon, and he nods, smiling at Titus and Gabby.

"Nice to meet you, Henry! This is Gabby!" Gabby hops down, shaking the bears hand formally, before crawling back up and continuing her book.

"She can read!" Avary exclaims, but it's less of a question, than a statement.

"Yeah, she learned a few years go, and can easily keep up with me nowadays." Avary smiles, handing a book to Henry, who happily takes it.

"Henry can too, but he's still learning." She explains as he opens the picture book, sitting down in the middle of the aisle and sticking his nose right into it as he traces over the words with his paws.

"Thats so cool! Maybe we could have reading dates!" Titus exclaims, but his face goes red and he shoves his face into his book again when Avarys' face also goes beet red.

"Um... yeah... I think... I'd like that." She coughs, turning and grabbing Henry as she goes.

"See you later!" Titus calls, and she shoots him a smile as she waves behind her.

After shes gone, Gabby looks up, snickering.

"Shut up!" He whispers, but he can't help the smile that breaks across his face.

OTIS

"So, you only train flying types?" Otis asks, and Austin turns to face him, smiling as he nods.

"Thats right, I'm studying to take over one of the gyms. Well, that's the goal, anyways. Aerial Ace!" He turns back to the battle, and Lorell slams the Oddish with a hard hitting attack, pushing into unconsciousness.

"Good one, Lory! Come on back!" The bird pokemon doesn't waste anytime, landing gently on Austins' shoulder, and Otis gestures for Wen to go.

"There, see that Gloom? Use Shadow Sneak!" He says quietly, and Wen nods, giggling.

She disappears into her shadow, and appears beside the poor grass type, slamming it into the ground without ceremony.

It turns to her, sending a cloud of purple powder at her, and she quickly disappears again.

"Hypnosis!" A pink wave of hypnotic energy comes out of the Gloom's shadow, barely rippling as it lands dead-on in the center of it's forehead, and it quickly keels over, snoring loudly.

Wen appears again beside Otis, a wide grin on her face.

"I didn't know that Misdreavus could even learn Hypnosis!" Austin laughs, and Otis shrugs.

"They can't, apparently. I'm not sure why she knows it, but Titus thinks it could be her parents." He explains, and Austin nods.

"That's pretty sweet! Egg moves are awesome, its how Lory knows Air Slash and Air Cutter, her mom had a phenomenal move pool. And now, so does she!" He kisses the birds cheek, and it coos happily, shivering in delight.

He points out at another Oddish, and Lory takes off again.

"Do you have any other pokemon?" Otis asks, and Austin nods.

"One more, Rayne, a Staraptor, but hes at my parents for now. He was my grandmas', so he's not the young chick he used to be. He's an amazing battler, though, so I can call on him if I ever need him."

"Thats cool!"

"What about you? Just Wen?" He asks, and Otis blushes.

"Um... yea-yeah... But just for now!" He assures the older boy, but Austin waves him off and laughs.

"It's not a huge deal! If you ever need to catch one, or just want to find the next perfect team member, sign up for a Great Marsh trip which leaves every saturday, or you could always just say you are going to visit family, and go on a small excursion to a local route." He shrugs, but Otis nods, absorbing this information for use at a later date.

"I will! Thanks!" Without another word, the younger boy waves and takes off, leaving Austin confused, but he just shrugs, turning back to his training.

"Air Cutter, Lory!"

TITUS

Titus and Gabby walk around the fountain in the courtyard, set to the left side of the academy, and sigh as the sun starts to set.

"You think we'll like it here?" He asks no one in particular, but Gabby kisses his hand, nodding exuberantly.

"I hope so to, baby girl..." He kisses her forehead, and she smiles, giggling as she runs off to play in the fountain.

He takes his journal out,watching as she splashes around with the young water type pokemon in the fountain, and begins marking things down;

Thicker shell, heavier.

Dragon moves = drastic improvement.

Getting more tired.

As if on cue, as he finishes writing that last one, Gabby yawns loudly from across the way.

"Ready for bed?" He asks, but she shakes her head.

"Titus!" A familiar voice shouts from behind him, and he turns to see Gardenia approaching, with someone beside her.

His hair falls neatly around his shoulders, in waves of crimson, and his eyes match. His glasses are a bit to big for his face, but his bright yellow hard-hat takes away any chance of noticing it on the first look. His coveralls are dirty, and he has multiple grease and dirt stains across his face.

Titus smiles, standing as they approach.

"This is Roark, the Oreburgh gym leader! He's heading out but I wanted him to meet you!" Titus shakes the mans hand.

"Nice to meet you Titus! Gar was telling me you hope to study as a Professor?" He asks, and Titus smiles, nodding.

"That's the goal! Me and Gabby are huge fans of Pr. Oaks work, back in Kanto and Johto, and we hope to meet Professor Rowan, if the opportunity should come to pass." Gabby runs in, and Titus catches her and hoists her up onto his hip.

"That's amazing. More kids need to think about that option, we need more dedicated researchers. Is this Gabby?" He asks, handing her a cookie from his pocket, which she gratefully takes.

"Yeah! I found her egg a few years back, and she's the best book-buddy I could have ever asked for!" Titus explains, and Roark looks at him with a confused expression.

"Book buddy? She can read?" He asks, and Titus nods, his smile growing even wider.

"I taught her when she hatched, and nowadays shes almost faster than I am! She's reading a collection of information of Mega Evolution at the moment." This stumps the Oreburgh Gym Leader, and he scoffs, shaking his head and chuckling.

"She's smart, that's for sure. You two are going to go far, I can tell." He gives a grin, which Gabby happily returns, albeit a bit more toothy.

"Anyways, any plans for tonight?" Gardenia asks, but Titus shakes his head.

"Nothing in particular, probably read a bit more, pick up some textbooks or something." Roarks chuckles again, but Gardenia smiles.

"Good! Always good to keep yourself educated! Anyways, we have to go, but I'll see you for your class schedules tomorrow!" They wave as they head off, and Titus just smiles.

"He's pretty cool, don't you think?" He asks Gabby, but she snores happily from his hip.

He chuckles, grabbing his journal and heading back to his room.


	6. Chapter 6

OTIS

The morning sun shines through the shuttered window, leaving streaks of yellow, pink, orange, and red splayed through out Otis' room as he wakes up. Wen is still sleeping quietly on her pillow, so he's careful not to wake her as he gets out of bed.

He throws a shirt on, heading out to use the washroom, and Austin is already up and showered.

"Hey kid! Why'd you run off yesterday?" He asks, handing Otis a coffee cup of what smells like herbal tea.

"Thanks. Had an idea." He neglects to include that he had to pee like a Rapidash and was just to tired to go back out.

"Those can potentially be dangerous." Austin laughs, and Otis chuckles.

Otis sips from his cup, and instantly moans, the taste sending his whole mouth aflame with delight.

"Like it? I make my own, mint leaves and cucumbers, believe it or not. This batch has some lemon as well." He explains, but Otis doesn't hear him, his cup already empty.

Lifting the kettle, Austin carefully pours him another.

"Don't drink too much, or you'll be peeing like a fire hose." They both laugh.

"Hey, Austin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm supposed to sign up for classes today, where am I supposed to go for that?"

"Gardenia will probably handle yours personally, so chances are she'll come to get you. But, in the off chance she doesn't, you would need to meet with her in the counselors office, which is on the top floor." Otis nods, smiling.

"Anyways, I'm out for a seminar, so I'll catch you later." He waves as he heads out, Lory sitting tiredly on his shoulder.

Otis waves, and Wen comes out of the room, yawning.

"Hey! I'm just going to shower, then we'll go find Titus, okay?" She nods, her eyes still half closed, as she sips from Otis' cup, which he set on the table so he could go shower.

Her eyes go wide and she exclaims as she downs the rest of the cup.

He showers quickly, throwing on a nice pair of pants and the best shirt he can find, before they head out.

His first stop is Titus' room, but no-one answers, so he shrugs and heads to the cafeteria.

As he descends the stairs, the smell of food reaches out to caress his senses, and he almost trips as he speeds up.

He flings the doors open, and notices that the cafeteria is quite empty, but he sees Titus sitting with Gabby and... a girl?

Titus waves, gesturing for him to come over, and he sighs, the prospect of food pushed just a LITTLE further, but he walks over anyways.

"Little bro! This is Avary, and her starter, Henry." Otis shakes their hands, offering a smile and Wen even bows.

"Nice to meet you!" She smiles, and Otis can't help but to notice the goofy grin on his brothers face.

"Nice to meet you to, Avary. You guys eaten?" He asks, and they both nod.

"Could you grab me a muffin?" Titus asks, and Otis nods, not bothering to ask which kind cause he had made them a million times.

He heads back, and the two start back into their conversation.

Wen happily picks out what she would like, and Otis piles eggs, muffins, and even ham onto his plate, before they head back, sitting beside Titus.

Avary says her goodbyes, and something about needing a new shirt, to which they both laugh, before she heads out.

The second she's out the door, Otis swings around to face his brother.

"You like her, don't you?" He asks, point blank, and Titus splutters his juice.

"W-what? N-no, of c-course not!" He stutters, but the shade of scarlet on his cheeks gives him away.

"She seems nice, bro." Is all Otis has to say, before digging into his plate.

They leave together, after Otis finishes and Titus calms down, and they head for the counselors office.

They head upstairs, chatting about their first day.

"I found the library, got to meet the Oreburgh Gym leader, and met Avary, who seems pretty cool. We have a system where we switch a few books every week." Titus explains, and Otis nods.

"I went out training with Austin, then went to bed. I didn't stay up very late." Otis says, and Titus nods.

"Gabby fell asleep as soon as I took my eyes off her." Gabby growls, but doesn't dispute the fact.

She is NOT a morning person.

"Oh, cheer up baby girl! You're THIS close to evolving, we should get some training in today!" She nods happily at that, her usual, cheery self back.

They finally make it to the fourth and final floor, following the signs that point them in the right direction.

As they approach the door, a woman with long, emerald green hair, and the eyes to match. Her hair is braided into a large braid that falls over her shoulder, almost to her waist, and she's wearing a light green sundress.

Over all, very green.

"Hi there! You must be Otis and Titus!" She stops, shaking their hands.

"Um, Hi! I'm Otis, this is Titus!" Otis points them out, and she smiles.

"I'm Cheryl, the headmistress here at the academy. Nice to meet you both, Gardenia has been telling me all about you two!" She smiles, her eyes shining in the morning light reflecting off the windows.

"Oh, Hi! It's a real pleasure to finally meet you, ma'am!" Titus bows, and the woman laughs.

"Ma'am? Please, call me Cheryl. If you have any questions about classes or anything, really, don't be afraid to come find me, you're always welcome in my office." She steps out of the way, and lets the two boys pass.

"It was nice to meet you two, I hope to see you around!" She smiles, waving as she enters another room to her left.

The boys wave, before turning and going into the office.

Gardenia is sitting on the chair across from the lady on the computer, but she stands when the boys come in.

"Ah, early risers! Good to see you up and at 'em! Come with me, we'll get your classes all figured out in the courtyard. I don't know about you to, but I for one REFUSE to let the morning light escape me!" She grabs their shoulders, leading them out to the courtyard.

"So, how this works," She starts, after they've all sat down on the benches and let the pokemon out to play, "is you have four classes a day, but not every day is the same. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are called Academic Days, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are your Physical days. Caught up so far?"

After both boys nod, she continues;

"Saturdays and Sundays are fair game, as long as you stay safe, and sign out at the office if you leave. You are more than welcome to go spend time at your Aunt's, and she always has a room here should she come to visit as well. If you intend on staying out for more than a few nights, you will need a signed slip from a teacher or instructor saying that they know where you'll be at all times."

She hands both boys a small booklet outlining numerous classes and seminars available through out the week.

Titus raises his hand, but takes it down quickly after the look Gardenia gives him.

"Sorry! What is the deal with the seminars?" He asks, and Otis nods, wondering the same thing.

"Seminars don't have to be signed up for, and are open to any student that finds them interesting. If you have spare time, or want to skip a class for a seminar, we will never say no! Just walk right in, introduce yourself to the teacher or instructor, and your golden! Another thing, If you find class is going a bit to slow for your liking, NEVER be afraid to ask for work in advance! You can't turn it in early, but you are more than welcome to do as much or as little work as you can fit into your schedule!" Titus beams, glad he can work at his own pace, while Otis asks another question.

"So, these classes like... Training 101, PokePlants, and... The art of the catch, they are all considered 'physical' classes, right?" He asks, and Gardenia nods.

"Yep! So those classes would be held outside, normally on a Tuesday or Thursday." She hands them both a sheet with multiple blocks in multiple rows, each row headed with a day of the week.

"Write down what you guys would be interested in, and I'll be back!" Before they can ask where shes going, she takes off, signalling for her Roserade to follow.

Gabby and Wen pout at the loss of their friend, but get quickly sucked into the fountain by a little Azurill.

Otis moves so he's across the table from his brother, and they start going through their sheets.

"So... Let's do yours first." Titus decides, setting his to the side.

"What are you most interested in, as a trainer?" He asks, taking Otis' sheet from him. Otis stares out at the pokemon as he answers.

"I want to learn how to properly train a pokemon, how to care for it, and mostly, how to keep it happy. I also want to learn how to catch my own pokemon." He starts, and Titus smiles, as he finishes writing in the physical classes.

"Good! Now, instead of us sitting here for hours while you decide what academics you like, how about I base the choices on your aspirations?" Titus asks, but Otis just stares at him blankly.

He sighs, Otis chuckling.

"Small words, big brother! Small words!"

"I'll pick your classes so that they make sense to a trainer like you." He says simply, and Otis nods.

"I was hoping you'd offer." Otis says mareepishly, passing the booklet over to his brother.

After filling in all of Otis' classes, Titus turns to his.

The academics are easy, with lots of history classes to choose from, but it's the physical classes that stump him.

Otis takes the sheet, smiling at his brother.

"Let me help you with this part." He says simply, and Titus just nods.

Otis ends up picking only two physical classes for his brother, Training 101, and Evolution 302.

"And... there we go! Alright!" Titus smiles, signing the last line on the class schedule, and standing.

"Where are you off to?" Otis asks, standing to.

"I have plans with Avary in the library." He explains, and Otis nods.

"I'm going to go see Aunty Flo, I think." He says.

"Already? If you're going, tell her I love her!" Otis assures his brother he will, then they go their separate ways for the day.

TITUS

"So... Salamance will be a devout Dragon and Flying type, correct?" Avary asks, and Titus nods, marking it down on his paper.

"So Ice types will be your worst adversary, followed by Rock, then Fairy. And, of course, your fellow Dragon types." She finishes, and he nods again, marking that information down.

"So, ideally, you'd want a good, roundabout Psychic, and maybe even a Water type to balance your team out, but I would also recommend maybe a Fairy, they aren't that bad in terms of physical power, but if you could get you'r hands on a Gardevoir, you'd be set." She finishes, and he nods.

"As a Professor, I wouldn't need a large team, just a well rounded one." Titus points out, and Avary nods, tucking her bangs behind her ear.

He grabs her sheets, gently taking them from her as he goes over her notes.

"Okay... so Henry will come to be straight Ice type, right?" She nods, so he continues.

"Meaning, your worst weakness will be Fire, followed by Rock, Steel, and Fighting. I think a good Steel and maybe even a Grass type could help you out there, but Poison would be a good option to, albeit weak to Steel." He points, and she nods, marking it down.

"Hey Titus..." She says suddenly, and he looks up, confused.

"Whats up?" He doesn't realize how close their faces are, as he's fully immersed into his work and calculations.

She bites her lip, looking nervous, and he sits back.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and she lets out a breathy chuckle.

"Yeah... I just... Can we..." She stutters, but he stops her.

"Breathe, Avary. Whats the matter?" His eyes concerned, she smiles.

"Would you... want to... catch a pokemon with me, tomorrow?" She asks, and he whistles, but nods.

"Of course! Where would we go?" He asks, and she smiles.

"I signed us both up for the Great Marsh trip tomorrow." She smirks.

He laughs, leaning back.

"How'd you know I was going to say yes?" He chuckles, and she shrugs, a smug look on her face.

"I didn't... but I hoped you would." He laughs again, shaking his head, before they get back into their discussion.

OTIS

"Aunty Flo?" Otis knocks on the door, and there's a yelp from inside, before the door flies open, Terra standing in the doorway with a huge grin.

"Bre!" She exclaims, throwing Otis into a tight hug, before moving to allow him in, Wen following closely behind.

"Who is it?" Aunty Flo's voice rings from the kitchen, and Otis smiles, walking right in.

"Oh! Otty!" She rinses her hands from the onions she'd been cutting, hugging her youngest nephew tightly.

"Hey!" He chuckles, and she kisses his forehead.

"How's the school?" She asks, gesturing for him to take a seat, which he gladly does, the walk having tired him out.

"Huge, Aunty. Ginormous! I get lost going to my room!" She laughs, and he can't help but smile.

"Do you have a roommate yet?" She asks, back to prepping the food,

"Yeah! His names Austin, and he's training to be a flying type gym leader! His starter was a Pidgey, but Lory's a Pidgeotto now." He explains, and she nods.

"Thats awesome! Sign up for any classes yet?"

Before he can answer, there's a loud commotion from the backyard.

"BRE!" Terra screams, and Aunty Flo is outside, knife in hand immediately.

Otis hears her gasp, and he is able to dodge past her.

"OTIS!" She screams, but he's already past her, and watching as the scene in front of him unfolds.

Terra is trying to attack three Staraptor, who are all flying around and dive-bombing... something green.

And there's lots of blood.

"Wen, GO! Shadow Sneak!" He points at the nearest bird, and Wen ducks into his shadow.

He doesn't watch the attack, as he jumps into the fray, but he hears the bird give a squawk of pain, and he can't help but to smile.

He baseball slides to the green thing, throwing his body over it to protect it, and as he ducks his head, he can FEEL the Psychic energy that has entered the fray, and he smiles, knowing Greh has joined the battle.

"Buuuu..." A tiny voice says weakly beneath him.

He looks down, and locks eyes with the creature, who gives him a weak smile, before going limp.

Wen pokes her head out of his shadow over the injured green thing, and offers him one of her locks of hair. Confused, he grabs it, and she Shadow Sneaks him right out of the battle, leaving the Staraptor that was seconds away from attacking his exposed back careening into the ground at high speed, with a loud crunch.

They appear on the deck, beside Flo, who instantly grabs everyone and throws them inside, sending out Yanna and VanMerick to finish the job.

Wen has a cut above her left eye that is bleeding a purple liquid, and she keeps dropping as she floats.

"Put her on the table!" Flo says quickly, but Otis is scared stiff, and looks half-interested at the plates that are spread across it.

With a sigh, she grabs Wen and the green thing, throwing all the plates onto the floor with a horrendous crash, and sets them on it gently.

"Go up to my bathroom in my room, grab the RED case under the sink!" She says, grabbing supplies from the kitchen, and Otis is quick to take off.

He gets back, handing it to her, and she TEARS it open, dumping the contents into a small basket she has set up beside her.

Otis notices potions, revives, even some full restores, along with basic first aid supplies.

"The house, two to the left. Go knock on the door and tell them I sent you." She says suddenly, and Otis looks up, fear in his eyes.

"GO!" She shouts, and he gasps. She had never yelled at him before, so this had to be serious.

He takes one last look at his starter, who has now passed out from the pain, and nods.

He takes off out the front door, Yanna following him closely.


	7. Chapter 7

OTIS

Otis slams on the front door.

"Hello! Is anyone home!" He shouts, and the door is flung open.

A young girl, with long, navy blue hair and a white touque opens the door.

"Excuse me!" She says in a huff, crossing her arms.

"H-hi! I was t-told to come and say... that Aunty... Flo sent me!" Otis struggles to catch his breath, but the girls eyes go wide.

"MOM!" A middle aged woman, with short bobbed hair of the same colour as the girls appears beside her in an instant.

"What happened?" She asks, grabbing a coat as they jog back, the girl behind them as she locks the front door.

"Three... Staraptor... small..." She waves him off, having got more than enough information.

He notices she has a small backpack on her hip.

They get to the house, the door still open from where he had thrown it, and Yanna leads them to the kitchen, where Flo is busy boiling water to sterilize her instruments.

"Flo!"

"Johanna!"

They quickly embrace, and then they kick the younger kids out.

"Dawn, take Otis here and go wait upstairs, or go back home. You don't need to be here for this." The girl nods obediently, but Otis shrugs her arm off.

"Wen is my STARTER. I'm not leaving!" He insists, and his Aunt gives him a sad look, before sighing and shaking her head.

"Fine, just dont get in our way!" Otis nods, stepping into the dining room to watch, and Dawn looks to her mom, who gives her a curt nod, before sitting with him.

"... Budew, by the looks of it."

"...stitches, damn."

Otis can't hear them clearly, but he picks up a couple words and sentences here and there, which makes him all the more worried.

"Hey." The girl takes his hand, but he wrenches it back violently.

"S-sorry... just... Wen..." He stops, his voice breaking, but she nods.

"It's okay. My starter is Piplup, and I couldn't imagine if he..." She stops, her eyes wide, but he waves her off.

"She'll be fine." Johanna says from the kitchen, bringing the ghost over.

She has a few stitches in her forehead, and one of her locks of hair has been abruptly cut off, but she seems peaceful.

"A few stitches and a sedative to help her sleep, make sure she doesn't strain herself in the next few days." She offers him a smile, and he gratefully smiles back, tears streaming freely down his cheeks.

"Thank you. What about..."

"We are doing our best, just be glad both of us have basic medical training." She pats bot of the kids' heads, before turning and heading back.

Otis gently lifts Wen, kissing her hair, and takes her upstairs. Dawn follows, for no reason other than no where else to go, but he doesn't mind.

He notices a small, blue penguin pokemon behind her, he hadn't noticed it before.

They get up to his room, and he sets the ghost gently on his pillow, wrapping his blanket around her for warmth, then he sits on the floor, head in his hands.

"What happened?" Dawn asks quietly, her dark blue eyes wide.

Otis explains the situation, and Dawn, for her own credit, takes it pretty well.

"How does your mom know my Aunt?" He says finally, trying to change the subject.

"They've been friends for years, way back since they first went to the academy." She explains, and Otis laughs.

"What? Thats so cool!" She smiles to, nodding. She absentmindedly strokes Piplup's head, causing him to murmur and fall asleep.

"So, how old are you?" He asks her, and her eyes go wide.

"You NEVER ask a lady her age!" She gasps, and he laughs.

"I mean, are you going to the school?" He corrects himself, and she laughs.

"Oh... yeah! Just turned ten a few weeks ago, I start on the 18th." She explains, and he laughs.

"Me too! I got all set up in the dorms yesterday!" She smiles.

"I get set up tomorrow, we leave in the morning."

"I'll come with you! It'll be fun!" She nods, and they laugh.

"Missss..." Otis is up like a shot, leaning over his injured pokemon.

"Wen? Rowena? I'm so sorry!" He begins to sob, but she kisses his cheek.

"Miss..."

"I should never have sent you into that battle!"

"Misss..."

"I'm a terrible trainer!"

"MIS!"

With that, she floats up, an angry look in her eye.

"Mis! MisdreAVUS! DRE! MIS!" She growls, and he steps back.

The door opens behind them, and Otis looks to see Greh enter. He flinches as he notices the scratches and bruises over his barrier.

"I'll translate." He informs them, and Otis nods.

"She said that if you ever consider yourself a terrible trainer again, she will..." His eyes go wide, and she looks at him expectantly, as if mentally forcing him to go on, and he sighs.

"She will leave. She wants you to realize how brave you were, jumping into that battle, and says she refuses to fight for a trainer who can't believe in themselves. She wants you to know shes proud of you, and she believes in you." He finishes, and Otis turns to Wen, who floats back down to the pillow, looking weak.

"Are... Is that true?" He asks quietly, and she nods, her face set in determination.

He hugs her, kissing her hair, and she giggles.

"I love you, Wen."

"Mis."

He didnt need a translator for that.

"Good news and bad news." Flo explains, standing in the doorway.

"Bad news first." Otis decides, and she nods.

"The bad news is that I'm still mad at you for doing something so STUPID." She sighs, pressing the bridge of her nose.

"Oh... um... the good news?"

"The Budew will survive, albeit with a few scars." Dawn and Otis both give a whoop of celebration, and Flo laughs.

"Can we see it?"

"Her, and yes. We gave her enough medicine to knock out a Mamoswine, but she's still awake and wont calm down." She explains, leading them downstairs.

It had been a few hours since the battle, and Wen was already feeling better, but Otis still didn't want her floating around while she was recovering, so he made a makeshift baby sling out of an old long sleeved shirt to carry her around in.

Of course, as soon as that happened, Piplup decided he wanted one to.

So now, both kids walk downstairs, pokemon on their chest and asleep.

They enter the kitchen, and Otis cant help but to notice the scarlet stains on the table and floor.

The Budew is in a basket with a blanket, on the table, but shes fussing and kicking.

Otis stands over the basket, eyes wide, when the Buduew catches sight of him.

Something clicks in her eyes, and she instantly calms down, murmuring as he gently strokes her cheek.

"How are you feeling?" He asks gently, and she smiles, kissing his hand.

"Looks like you made a new friend!" Johanna laughs, finishing up washing everything.

"What are you guys up to tonight?" Flo asks, and Dawn and Johanna look at each other.

"Dinner then bed, probably." Dawn says, and Flo laughs.

"Come here for dinner! I made lasagna!" Otis moans at that, Aunty Flo's lasagna is more legendary than any pokemon ever discovered.

After assuring her they would be over, both Dawn and Johanna head home to change and make something to bring over, and Flo sits Otis down at the table, his hand still caressing the small grass type, who has quickly fallen asleep.

"Otis..." She starts with a sigh, and he sighs back.

"I know, it was stupid of me. I'm sorry." She shakes her head.

"I realize now that I'm not mad that you helped. In fact, I'm PROUD that you jumped in when you did, you probably saved this little girls life. I'm mad that you didnt even think twice about jumping in. You could have gotten your self seriously injured." She says, and he nods.

"On another note, you may have just gotten your second pokemon." She says, and his eyes go wide, causing her to laugh.

"What do you mean?" He asks, and she gestures to where the little pokemon has curled around his hand, and is murmuring in her sleep.

"She's imprinted on you, you are now her person." She explains, and he gasps.

"So... she's... mine?"

"Not officially, we'll ask her when she gets up what she wants to do." He nods, gently taking his hand back and replacing it with a small pillow.

"Thats... Amazing." He says, at a loss for words.

Dawn and Johanna show up again, bringing a tray of fresh garlic bread, and they all get ready to eat.

TITUS

"Are you sure?" Gardenia asks, and Titus nods.

"She's so close, she just needs that little push!" He explains, and she nods.

"Well, I'm here to help. I'll use Roserade, but don't go easy on me!" She points menacingly at Gabby, who giggles and shakes her head, assuring Gardenia that she wont.

They walk to their separate ends of the field, which is draped in the evening sun, the light filtering through the trees around them and causing the earth to look like its waving.

She sends out her pokemon, and Gabby excitedly jumps out on to the field.

She gestures for Titus to go first, and he shrugs.

"Gabby, Dragon Breath!"

"Magical Leaf!"

Gabby takes a deep breath, inhaling to her lungs capacity, and letting out a torrent of draconic flames, which burn away the psychic leafs as if they're paper, and slams Roserade to the ground.

He stands back up, flicking charred leaves off his bouqets, and growls.

"I underestimated you, Gabby!" Gardenia calls from her side, and Gabby flashes her a toothy grin.

"Crunch!"

"Dodge it, and use-" She doesn't finish, as Gabby flits with super speed and lands a devastating hit on Roserades arm.

He screams, trying to shake the small dragon type off, but to no avail.

"EMBER!"

Before anyone has time to react to the newest order, Roserade screams in pain, dropping unconscious moments after, as Gabby keeps latched onto his arm, but peppers him with flames.

Roserade drops, and Gabby is enveloped in a bright, white light.

"YES!" Titus laughs, cheering as Gabby appears finally in her new form.

"S-shel?" She says quietly, trying to look around but only being able to see out of the small hole in front of her, her shell now tough as diamonds and encompassing her entire body save her legs.

She looks around frantically, starting to breathe quicker and stumble.

"Hey! Gabby! Hey!" Titus sits, putting his face near her front shell opening, and she whimpers.

"Baby girl! Whats wrong?" Gardenia returns Roserade, taking off, promising to come back.

"S-s-shel!" She says, her voice shaky as she holds back tears, and Titus kisses her shell.

"You're okay, you're okay..." He hears footsteps behind him, and he sees the green hair in his peripheral.

"Is everything okay?" Cheryl asks, her voice gentle and soothing, and Gabby turns to her, shaking and moaning.

I see a flash of light, signifying that a pokemon has been let out, and I see a Blissey gently soothe the terrified dragon pokemon.

"What happened?" Cheryl asks, and Titus stutters.

"S-she... evolved... and..." He starts to hyperventilate, but she puts his hands on his lap.

"Count to ten. Let's go find a Psychic so we can get to the bottom of this."

Gabby is almost hysterical at this point, kicking and trying to jump and run, so Titus returns her.

They head inside, to the infirmary, where a nurse is doing her evening rounds.

"Nurse Joy!"

"Ah, headmistress Cheryl! What brings the pleasure of your arrival?" She bows, and Titus hands her the pokeball.

"This young mans Bagon just evolved into Shelgon, but she is extremely distressed. Do you have a Psychic on hand?" The nurse nods at once, leading them into a back room.

She grabs a pokeball out of her purse, releasing a Kadabra.

It bows to everyone separately, before turning to the Joy.

"Honey, I'm going to release a pokemon. Try to figure out whats wrong." The pokemon nods, sitting with its spoon in the air, and Titus can feel the psychic energy radiating off of it. This is one strong pokemon.

She releases Gabby, who instantly goes into whimpering and shouting, but the Kadabra uses its psychic abilities to calm her down into a coherent state.

They converse for a few minutes, the Kadabra cool, calm, and collected, while Gabby shifts from foot to foot, still quietly whimpering, and Titus can feel his heart break. There's nothing he can do to make her feel better, not until he knows what the issue is.

Finally, the Kadabra nods twice, turning to the Nurse, and she sighs.

"Okay, so its nothing life threatening." Everyone sighs in relief.

"Shes upset that she doesn't have arms anymore, to read." Nurse Joy explains, and Titus gasps, having not realized.

"Wait!" Gardenia rips out of the room, appearing a few minutes later with a small box, and Cheryl nods, smiling.

She puts the bow down in front of Gabby, who regards it with interest.

"What is it?" Titus asks, and Cheryl smiles.

"It's one of the libraries mobile units." She explains, but Titus still gives her a weird look, and she laughs.

"It comes pre loaded with every book available in the library. It's a book that doesn't need to have its pages flipped." Gabby's eyes go wide and she gasps, and even Titus is taken aback.

"How much for it?" He asks quietly, and Cheryl laughs again.

"For you? Free. If it means Gabby still being able to read, then I'd be happy to give it to you, free of charge." Titus tears up, and he hugs the woman tightly.

"Oh!" She chuckles, hugging him back.

"Now, if you two want anything to eat, now's the time! The cafeteria is closing in half an hour!" Titus and Gabby run off together, mobile unit in hand and laughing as they play and joke around.

"He taught his Bagon how to read?" The nurse asks incredulously, and Gardenia nods.

"He's going to be a phenomenal Professor, one day." She says, and all three women nod.


	8. Chapter 8

TITUS

After having spent the majority of the night setting up the libraries unit for Gabby to use, Titus ended up going to sleep finally around midnight.

What woke him was the sound of electronic pages flipping, and he rolls over to see Gabby, still reading.

He reads the clock; Six AM.

"Did you get any sleep?" He croaks, and Gabby nods, a smile showing from within her shell.

"Good." He kisses her forehead, standing up, and heading out to use the washroom, not bothering to throw a shirt on.

He opens his door, and comes face to face with someone.

"Whoa!" He falls, onto his rear end and moans.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" It's a mans voice, and he looks up to get a good look at who barged into his dorm.

His hair is a bright silver, and his moustache matches. His eyebrows are also silver, but make him look quite threatening. He's wearing a lab coat, and has a briefcase by his side.

Titus recognizes this man instantly.

"P-Professor!" He stands bowing, and the man laughs.

"Go throw a shirt on, son. I'll wait out here!" He sits on one of the chairs in the den area, and Titus quickly runs back to the room.

"Shel?" Gabby asks, looking confused.

"Professor Rowan is HERE!" He whispers, and Gabby jumps up, shaking herself clean, before walking tall out of the room, Titus soon behind.

"What a gorgeous pokemon..." The Professor thinks aloud, stroking the top of Gabby's shell, and she giggles.

"Thats Gabriella, but we call her Gabby. She was my starter." Titus explains, flicking the switch on the coffee maker.

"Wonderful. I always admire trainers who start out with a hard type. Especially Dragon and Ghost."

"My brothers starter is a Misdreavus, and oddly enough, it knows Hypnosis." Rowans ears perk up at that.

"Really? What an interesting concept..."

"I believe it has something to do with her genetics, that maybe, somewhere up her family tree, a Psychic was bred in and caused the abnormality to form." Titus explains, and the Professor looks at him with wide eyes.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asks, wringing his hands in his lap, terrified he had just made the older man angry, but Rowan just laughs.

"No, no, my dear boy! In fact, I couldn't have said it better myself! Most impressive!" He guffaws, and Titus can't help but to smile.

So he hadn't made the Professor angry, but IMPRESSED him!

"Thank you, sir." He bows his head, and the Professor smiles.

"I have a proposition for you, son." Titus looks up, instantly scared again.

"A-and what would that be, P-Professor?" He asks, grabbing two cups of coffee and handing one to the older man.

"Thank you. Now, I've heard rumours that you were able to teach your starter to read. Is that correct?" His face isn't serious, but his tone stops Titus dead in his tracks.

"Um... Yes. Though it took many years for her to be as comfortable with literature as she is now."

"Splendid! A little Starly also told me you were interested in studying to be a Professor?"

Titus wasn't sure how to react to one of his idols mentioning his life long dream, so he just nodded.

"My proposition is a simple one; I want you to come work for me in Sandgem town. You will study there, on site, and work with me as my personal assistant."

Titus chokes on his coffee, getting it all over his shirt.

Rowan hands him a handkerchief from his pocket, smiling.

"Sir! I... I don't..."

"Well? Spit it out, son! Is that a yes or a no?"

"Y-Yes! Yes sir! Thank you, sir!" Rowan shakes his hand, laughing.

"Amazing! I will have the arrangements set up with the headmistress immediately!" He stands, bowing, and quickly leaves.

Titus and Gabby both look back and forth from the door to each other.

The door barely shuts before they start cheering and laughing.

OTIS

Otis wakes up early, looking around his dorm room.

He hadn't signed out for the night, so he had to come back before the morning.

He gently peeks over the edge of his bed, to see Wen and the Budew, curled up with each other in the basket, and he smiles.

His aunt had let him bring the Budew back, on the promise that he would take it to the infirmary as soon as he got up, so he does just that.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Otis slides the basket gently onto his arm, and heads for the infirmary on the third floor.

"What happened?" The Nurse asks quietly, so as to not wake the two slumbering pokemon up.

"A group of Staraptors attacked her, I was able to jump in before things got worse." The nurse critically looks him up and down at that, and he brushes her off.

"I wasn't hit at all, just this little girl." The nurse nods, satisfied that Otis isn't bleeding anywhere, and takes the basket.

Wen wakes up, gently floating out of the basket and onto Otis' shoulder.

"Hey you! How are you feeling?" She giggles quietly, and she sounds quite tired, but Otis can tell that she's floating way easier than the night before, so he was grateful for that.

The nurse gently lifts the small grass type out of the basket, placing her gently on an examination table.

"Whoever did these stitches was quite skilled. These are near perfect!" The nurse intones, and Otis nods.

"That was my aunt and Johanna." the nurse nods again, finishing her quick exam.

"Well, it looks like your aunt got everything under control in a timely and clean matter, so I'm glad to say that, given a week or two, her photosynthesis will have her in tip top shape! Just remember, lots of sun!" She hands the basket back, the grass type finally yawning as she wakes up.

After thanking the nurse profusely, he heads back out, going straight for the courtyard.

He runs into Titus on the way, and... Gabby?!

"Whoa! Look at you!" He bends, kissing the dragon type, and she giggles.

"I would love to stop and chat, little bro, but the trip starts in ten minutes!" He hugs his brother quickly, taking off down the corridor, Gabby ambling along behind him.

"Trip? Already?" He laughs, shaking his head and continuing.

They make it outside, and catch a glimpse of Titus as an Alakazam takes him, Avary, and a few other kids away with a Teleport.

"Here we go! Doctors orders!" He takes Budew out, setting her on the picnic table, which is already warm from the morning sun, and she sighs.

He watches, mouth agape, as she opens her bud atop her head, and he notices the vibrant red and blue petals.

She smiles, releasing a sweet scent that sends Otis' mind reeling in delight.

He sits, watching her as she moves about in the sun.

"Say, what do you want to do now?" He asks her, and she tilts her head, confused.

"Well, we can take you back to where you live, if you wanted-" Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head violently, almost throwing herself off the table.

"Whoa! Okay, calm down! The other option is you could come with me..." He trails off, but smiles when she nods vigorously.

"Are you sure? You would be considered a trained pokemon..." She nods again, and he takes the empty pokeball off his belt, the one he had brought just in case.

She smiles, tapping her nose to the button before he has a chance to stop her, and she gets sucked into the ball.

TITUS

The Alakazam drops the group gently onto the squishy path in front of the Great Marsh, and Avary gasps as they approach.

"I've never been here..." She whispers, taking pictures with her little camera and smiling.

They approach the front desk, where an attendant goes over the basic rules;

No battling allowed.

You only get 30 Safari Balls, but unlimited bait.

The month is March, so the theme for the pokemon is Kalos, meaning that there are wild Kalos pokemon in as well as the normal bunch.

Everyone gets little napsacks of balls and bait, and they head into the marsh.

Avary instantly grabs Titus' arm, taking him along a narrow path.

"W-whoa! I though you've never been here!" Titus stutters, trying to keep up with the girl ahead of him.

"I haven't!" She replies cheerily.

"Then where are we going?"

"Not sure!" She replies, even more cheerily than the last, and he sighs, giving up and continuing to follow her.

He scans the area as they walk, and he notices tonnes of pokemon, splashing around in puddles and mud, bigger pokemon carrying smaller ones.

"Isn't this so cool?" Avary whispers, pointing to where a small group of Fletchling are chirping and playing in the air like fish in water, graceful and precise.

Titus can only nod, and he looks up to see that the roof of the entire marsh is a glass dome, ad the morning sun is starting to filter through.

Avary smiles, letting her hair down and running her hands through it as she enjoys the sun on her face, and Titus watches with a dumb expression on his face.

She turns to him, and he quickly recovers, smiling at her as he points in a random direction; down a dark path set in between some trees and boulders.

"Good idea!" She grabs his arm, dragging him along, and he sighs. He did this one to himself.

Thankfully the path is short, but winding, and they soon end up in a small clearing, set against the far wall of the Great Marsh. There is a good sized pond in the middle, and its dark, showing no signs of the bottom, though the odd group of bubbles rumble to the top occasionally.

"I bet there's a strong pokemon in there!" Avary laughs, pointing and gently stirring the water with her foot.

"Lets not make it mad..." Titus says, terrified that something vicious is going to explode out at any second.

"I'm sure it's fine!" But even as she finishes her sentence, theres a low rumbling noise.

Titus grabs her arm, throwing her behind him, and he watches the pond.

More and more bubbles are now rushing to the top of the pond, and Titus sees something coming out of the water, something huge and...

Water spouts out the top as the pokemon lunges out from the pond, and Avary screams.


End file.
